More Bike Accidents in L.A. Area?

[eynlai]

Hey all, I've been away from this board sooo long. I finally took today off from work, largely because my company forced me to by not letting me accrue anymore vacation time until I do, and was told to by my manager. So I have today to kill.

I noticed something very disturbing over these last 4 weeks. I've been lazy to ride my Busa to the office for quite some time now. Mostly driving or just work from home. But I'm hearing more and more traffic reports on the morning and afternoon commute of "congestion due to a motorcycle accident..." or "101 fwy at... is stalled because of a accident involving a motorcyclist...". Almost to the frequency of 2 reports a day for around 3-4 weeks now.

Is it truly more dangereous now to ride in the Los Angeles / Orange County area (statistically and relatively)? Or is it just my paronoid nature?

When I got my brand new '03 in March of 2004, I rode her all the time, clocking in about 26,000 miles until my little accident on the 101 fwy in October 2006. Even though fixed back up and in top running condition, I just turned 28,000 miles on her now.

Am I justified in my being lazy not to ride as much anymore (mostly as commute)? Is anyone else in the L.A. / So. Cal. noticing this scary trend?

 

[Loomis]

eynlai, I know you have large volume of people on the roads like NY, But Lane splitting is Not legal here, Do you think that may have anything to do with the increase of accidents on the West coast. Or people Not using signals when changing lanes (BIG PROBELEM HERE IN NORTH CAROLINA) other possible causes CELL Phones - Reading NEWSPAPER. Soccer Moms ETC.
OH MOST FORGOT RIDER ERROR- Last and not most likely.
Jon(Loomis).

 

[eynlai]

I'm not sure. But one thing I do notice is that cager are getting more aggressive and ignorant on the road out here. The Lane Splitting in CA is a whole debate within itself. Definitely not for new riders. It takes concentration, nerve, excellent judgement, Jedi Reflexes, and even a dash of clairvoiancy. But if "used properly and as directed...", it makes it even safer for us bikers, at least in my personal opinion.

It's something else, or a combination of something else.

Sucks. Even though I still ride on occassions, I don't ride like I use to. I miss riding

 

[WWJD]

I'm not in cali, but accidents are accidents. I think my average is MINDFULLY AVOIDING at least one potentially bad accident, ALMOST once per ride in traffic and sometimes more than once. That means, if I wasn't paying attention for both myself AND the cager, there would have been some crunching. To me, that is a lot of potential! And I am a sane, safe, cautious rider, not a jackhole

 

[gtrpimp76]

That's why I've pretty much retired from street riding and gone 99.9% track riding and then racing in 08. SoCal's dangerous. But you have to have a good state of mind and 100% attentivness to ride these roads.

 

[ibified]

Another thing to consider: More cars + more motorcycles = more motorcycle accidents. If you lived in a town with 1 car and 1 motorcycle, you'd never hear about a car/motorcycle accident. And if you did, you'd be in it...=P

 

[Projekt]

Hey brother,
Nice to see you around again.
Still remember that ride and Sushi so long ago.

I'm not around LA these days. Over here in Iraq, I can say that we don't have that problem.

 

[Lamb busa]

Don't ride in LA much but in S.D. alot of lane splitters just do it too quickly.  They ride way faster than 10 mph over the speed of trafic.  It looks scary and dangerous.  Almost got run over on my bike yesterday by another bike while splitting lanes.  Lamb doesn't even know how this guy got by me,  there was so lil room.

JERK

 

[Gunnybusa]

I think your being a little paronoid, ride defensively and ease back in to it. SoCal drivers KNOW to look for bikes so as long as you " Lane share " at a reasonable speed you'll be fine.

 

[Charlesbusa]

I think its just that there are more cars and more bikes in LA.

On another note, you need to go to Vegas with us!!
https://www.hayabusa.org/forums/?act=ST;f=66;t=84662

 

[Gunnybusa]

I think its just that there are more cars and more bikes in LA.

On another note, you need to go to Vegas with us!!
https://www.hayabusa.org/forums/?act=ST;f=66;t=84662

Charles " The Vegas " pimp hard at work

 

[Big O]

It could be becaue there are a lot more bikes in L.A.

I split the lane every day to work. I also keep it down to 10 mph. I had a car change lanes right in front of me and I was going slow enough that changed lanes with him. Had I been going faster I would have hit him. I adjusted his mirror for him so he could only see himself in the mirror, and went on my way. I didn't use to split as much as I do now until I had a pickup lock 'em up behind me sliding sideways, and I split the traffic to avoid be hit from behind.

 

[Scar]

Terminology 101...

Lane Splitting: what it is
Lane Sharing: what it's called

Be extra vigilant and you'll be fine. Sounds like you need a couple of canyon and/or track days to re-stoke that fire.

Get on your bikes and ride!

 

[mymaster]

I know your freeways, it's insane there. You can drive for an hour and it feels like your still in the same city even know your in a different one. I think more people are realizing the gas savings and the zipping through traffic to get where their going much easier thus luring more inexperienced riders out onto the roadways and in your town, thats like "TIMES 100" So much more is going to happen.